Buy It | Grocery Wine

Amy takes the reins: six picks at 40% off

By | Cabernet Sauvignon, Champagne/Sparkling, Chardonnay, General, Pinot Noir, Red, Vons / Safeway | No Comments

Since my dearly beloved husband apparently doesn’t have time to update the Grocery Wine website, I’ve decided it’s time for yours truly to take over the reins. Unlike my husband, I have all the time in the world. What working mom of four doesn’t?! Then again, maybe I just take wine more seriously than he does (refer to “mom of four” above).

This post is for the “coupon mom” in particular. I’m not that mom… because it’s all I can manage to get myself and any number of children who may be accompanying me to the grocery store at all. Once there, I am all but oblivious to the people shopping around me – unless you are slowing me down in which case, BEWARE! I do not have the luxury of time, which is precisely why I appreciate deals that don’t require extra clipping, computing, or searching on my part.

If you haven’t already heard, Vons is currently offering 30% offall wine, with an extra 10% off if you buy six bottles or more. That’s 40% off for those of you who can’t do math (or just have mommy brain like me). Six bottles… that’s not even a weeks worth, so stock up my friends!

I am personally a lover of champagne, so I have a few bubbly favorites to recommend. After all, bedtime for the kiddos is always cause for celebration in our house 😉

My personal picks include:

Champagne

Gloria Ferrer

Mumm – Blue Label for a sweeter bubbly

Chandon Brut  is perfect for sipping or mimosas

Roederer Estate for something fancy

Pinot

Cambria Julia’s Vineyard will please just about anyone

Cab

Justin Vineyard big, jammy, and oh so smooth (A personal fav!)

Chardonnay

La Crema is an easy go-to, smooth, buttery, perfect for a hot day.

DeLoach If you want to try something a little different but equally fantastic the DeLoach is a great value and equally yummy.

With Christmas just around the corner, we could all use a little more $$$ in our pockets so build yourself a wine six pack and let me know what you think of my suggestions.

Until next time…

Cheers!

Apothic Red Wine Review

By | Red, Winners, Winners and Losers | 3 Comments

20120124-185446.jpg Apothic Red? Hmmm, I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.  And I come to this little wine shop (aka Vons) quite often.  Now, if only I could find the wine merchant who runs this establishment…  Undoubtedly, busy with a connoisseur in another area of the store, perhaps in the exotic cereals section?

Because I like to live on the edge (and it was on sale for under ten bucks) I went ahead and tossed this in the cart.  Glad I did!  This thing was excellent!  A little snooping around the web reveals that Robert Parker called the 2008 vintage “one of the greatest bargains I have ever tasted from California”.  Wow!  That’s pretty high praise!  Obvious, black cherry tastes as well as vanilla.  We’ll definitely be going back for another bottle!  (as you can see from the picture, ours got emptied pretty fast!)

John’s Blend Cabernet Sauvignon

By | Cabernet Sauvignon, General, Red | No Comments

Two words on this one: wow!  Alright, disclosure time: 1. “wow” is not two words.  2.  This isn’t really a grocery wine (unless your local grocery store is in an extremely well heeled area of Australia).  We managed to obtain a babysitter awhile back and while sniffing around for a new restaurant to try out I came across a reference to a members only club in downtown San Diego.  On a whim, I picked up the phone and asked if I could come in for dinner.  After bouncing around to a few people on the phone the director of member services agreed to leave some guest passes for us with the hostess.  Sweet!  When we arrived, I was surprised to discover a jacket was required.  Huh?  Listen, you might think this makes sense what with the members only thing but this is San Diego.  Dressing up here means Read More

Review: Dry Creek Vineyard Fume Blanc – Buy It!

By | Sauvignon Blanc, White, Winners, Winners and Losers | 2 Comments

drycreekfumeblanc_smallWarning this wine could cause relationship issues!  Read on for details, but first a quick tangent:  A couple of years ago we were out to dinner with some friends and our waitress recommended a wine to us.  Very excited about the wine, the waitress came back seconds after pouring it asking how we liked it.  Someone mumbled something about it and the waitress said Read More

Review: Sea Ridge Chardonnay – 100% Drinkable!

By | Chardonnay, White | 9 Comments

You’ve probably spotted this one on the bottom shelf at your local grocery store with a price somewhere under $4.  Four dollar wine?  I figured there was a decent chance I might go blind from drinking the cheap stuff but in the name of science (and cheapskatedness) I thought I’d give it a try.  Because of the inherent danger involved in drinking this stuff Read More

Review: Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut Champagne – Buy It!

By | Champagne/Sparkling, White, Winners, Winners and Losers | 3 Comments

gloriaferrerMmmm, my taste buds are watering just thinking about Gloria Ferrer champagne.  It’s one of our all time favorite grocery store finds (and occasionally makes an appearance at Costco).  Always under $20 and we’ve snagged it on sale at Vons for under $15.   It’s a delicious sparkling wine which is such a good deal we have no qualms breaking it out for even the most minor celebrations.  Listed below are four of the reasons we’ve used to break out the bubbly Read More